I’ve been planning a boat barn addition for two years.
Hired a structural engineer. He pointed me toward a builder who is honest, talented, and pleasant.
After 12 months of going around in circles with surveyors, conservation commission people, we finally got the go ahead.
Unfortunately, the builder made a mistake early in the process which has hurt the positive vibe we had going.
When the excavator came to dig the hole, he ran over the spray paint on the ground (when he went to excavate the far end of the hole) such that the boundary for where one of the forms would go was obscured.
So when the form guys came, the pile of dirt in the middle of the hole was in the area where one of the footings should have been.
The excavator left.
A couple days later, when the form guys showed up, the builder figured it out and started digging at the monster dirt pile with a wrecking bar as best as he could because the concrete truck was on the way. He got some of the dirt pile excatvated, and used the back of the dirt pile to be form for this part of the footing.
But instead of getting a full 24 inches of footing in that section, it’s as narrow as 18 inches. The length of the section that is less than 24 inches is eleven feet long. The plans called for 24 inch wide footings, so there was no ambiguity there.
I wasn’t happy about this because the footing is less than the speced 24 inches in the middle of the span. There’s a post between two garage doors over the narrow section, so if the footing settles it will rack the garage doors and they’ll never function properly.
At first, the GC said, “don’t worry about it.”
I don’t want my building to sink, so I asked him to widen the footing by drilling six inch deep holes in the footing, using concrete epoxy to hold #4 rebar with 4 inch long hockey stick ends every 12 inches for a total length of 15 feet, treating the area with bonding agent and then pouring concrete into the widened section.
The widened footing will be a total of 28 inches wide, so I think it will be good and stable.
Although the builder didn’t want to do it, he did agreed to.
I offered to take a day off from work to help him. He declined.
I want to keep this guy happy. I am thrilled with the fact that he is honest. I think he is a gifted carpenter.
We have a long way to go on this project.
Would a case of Budweiser be an appropriate gesture at this point?
Or should I just forget about it because the mistake happened in the first place.
Thank you for your input.
Regards,
jojo
Replies
Couple of thouights. It was an unintentional mistakes, although someone should have checked the layout before the excavator left, and certainly before the concrete was in transit.
with 4 inch long hockey stick ends I sure hope this is a term I'm not familiar with, and not really hockey stick ends!
Before you leaned on the contractoir, you really should have gone back to the engineer and asked for an opinion...the gc could have been right about it being sufficient.
I would do one of two things now...1: forget about it, but keep it in your mind that he did make the changes you requested 2: bring out the beer and BBQ one Friday afternoon, but don't make it a reward for fixing the problem, but rather just a friendly end-of-the-week-thanks-for-the-hard-work gesture.
Do it right, or do it twice.
You want to reward three companies for making the same simple mistake of not being able to count holes in the ground. You must be a real nice person.
Top it all off you want to lay your self open to law suit. You do that by supplying work crew with alcohol on the job site. So when they get done drinking they can get in their trucks/cars and drive home and have accident and they or the person they hit can sue you.
It looks to me you are going to have be there every night and be the inspector general and do the GC job to make sure it gets built right.
Edited 6/2/2003 2:26:29 PM ET by fredsmart
Hey Fred....remind me to never work for you!
To the original posted.....just make sure they drink Bud.....
Can't stand the stuff myself...so I'd be insulted.....Miller Highlife that's another story...and I promise to only get half kicked before I run the neighborhood kids over......
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
You give highlife to guys out here, you likely to get smackedNever be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professionals build the Titanic.
Thank god Im not one of FrednotsoSmarts kids.
you and me both. mebbe he needs to take his meds. I get that way when I am off of mine!
A case of beer is an insult. That's what, less than $20? How about a couple of nice big fresh New York Strips on top of that case, on Friday night as he's about to leave...now that's a nice gesture.
ElCid has is right.
Bring out the barbeque. Some steaks. Some hamburger, hotdogs, lettuce, the fixins, potato salad, etc... And the beer. Make sure you bring some lipton brisk, and/or pop, in case they don't want the beer.
Tell them a couple days ahead of time, so everyone shows up that day.
And one thing more....
A mistake was made. He has agreed to fix the mistake. Leave it at that. You shouldn't reward him for fixing a mistake. If he bends over backwards to do a good job... If he goes the extra mile and does something that was not expected... Then you can lay on the praise and reward.
Don't make a big deal about it. More importantly, don't start watching like a hawk for mistakes. Don't expect him to fix every dorky little thing that comes up. Do.. do so, for the stuff like this.. that might actualy make a difference.
Don't hold the mistake against him.
A good heart embiggins even the smallest person.
Quittin' Time
I wonder if we're invited to this footing fest?.
Excellence is its own reward!
" the builder figured it out and started digging at the monster dirt pile with a wrecking bar as best as he could because the concrete truck was on the way"
I'm still trying to figure out why he was using a wrecking bar? My pappy tought me to use a sholve to move dirt. The wrecking bar was for the fun stuff, wrecking.